MPR Hero Stories

From now until June 23, vote for your favorite American composers. We’ll take the results and count them down on Friday, July 3.

Daniel, a pianist from Minneapolis, is the Emerging Artist category winner.

O’Malley, a soprano vocalist from New Brighton, Minnesota, is the Preprofessional Musician category winner.

Congratulations to the two winners of our 2026 Karin Larson YourClassical Prize! Tina O’Malley, a soprano from New Brighton, Minnesota, is the winner in our Preprofessional Musician category. Gaia Daniel, a pianist from Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the winner in our Emerging Artist category. Each of them receives a cash prize and a recording session at MPR. You can see their winning entries below. Thank you to everyone who voted for their favorite performer in this year’s Prize.

Herbie Hancock helped rewrite post-bop language and reimagined the rhythm section as a conversational engine. But his musical imagination wouldn’t stop at jazz. He has continued composing for film and the concert hall alike. Find out more in the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

Thomas Søndergård and the Minnesota Orchestra invite guest pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk for a program featuring music by Higdon, Ives, Scriabin and Tchaikovsky. Listen to the live broadcast with host Melissa Ousley at 8 p.m. Friday, June 12, on YourClassical MPR.

On the latest episode of ‘New Classical Tracks,’ pianist Jan Lisiecki presents two piano concerti by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on his latest recording with conductor Manfred Honeck and the Bamberg Symphony. Listen now with host Julie Amacher!

On this episode of ‘Extra Eclectic,’ we hear works featuring unorthodox instruments and compositional approaches, including Echo Collective’s ‘Unknown Gates’ and Molly Joyce’s ‘It Has Not Taken Long for You to Break.’ Listen now with host Steve Seel!

The Schubert Club announced Thursday that violinist and arts leader Kyu-Young Kim has been appointed its next Artistic and Executive Director. He will succeed Barry Kempton, who is stepping down after 15 years of leadership at the organization.

Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis redefined the genre in subtle and caustic ways. While he had great success he was always restless for innovation. Find out more in the latest episode of the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.